Codex Entry: War of Devouring
by Baluar
Summary: A Company of Blood Ravens arrives to a planet where they know both a Tyranid Hive Fleet and a Chaos Warband have landed, and yet they find no traces of either. Only after reading records left behind by the original inhabitants may the Blood Ravens know the truth about what happened in the mysterious War of Devouring... a truth that may be best if left alone.
1. Prologue

Just in case... I have no rights over God Eater (which is property of Bandai Namco) or Warhammer 40.000 (property of Games Workshop). This is written for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

As I grab my almost unrecognizable God Arc so hard that it cracks, or at least it would if it were a normal God Arc, ready to face an uncertain fate at the hands of a monstrous Daemon Prince, I can't help but recall that time when we thought Aragami were our certain doom.

Ah, the good old times. I doubt I know a single person who wouldn't be willing to make any kind of sacrifice just to return to those days.

My allies fall in combat left and right, fighting all sorts of Daemons, ranging from gigantic Warp-spawn to terrible Bloodletters to rotten Nurglings. And I, of course, get the twelve feet tall engine of destruction. A warband of Chaos Undivided coming to our planet was the last thing we needed when already dealing with a planetary-scale threat.

But the Universe apparently has many ways to screw us over.

There's no way, no possible turn of events in which we come out winning, or even unharmed. Even if we win, the taint is already firm here, and for all our knowledge about it, we have no idea how to strip it away. Layer upon layer of Daemonic blood irrevocably taints the soil, and below that there's still lingering traces of half-consumed biomass from the previous Tyranid invasion – one that was all too convenient for the emissaries of Chaos.

How they could control those monstrosities is beyond my understanding. Whether through manipulation or simple luck, the Tyranids came here, before we even knew what they were, and began devouring everything. Even the mightiest of the Aragami fell to the true Great Devourer. I remember watching that happen in horror, during the initial stages of the invasion. Mighty Hannibals falling down to wave upon wave of Termagants. We were hopeless – while Tyranids weren't immune to normal weaponry, they were more than a match for our rundown planet. Their numbers truly endless, making Aragami seem like they were just a warm up for the real threat. Watching the supposedly invincible Aragami fall like flies was something we just weren't ready for.

And yet, the "real threat" fell surprisingly fast. Somehow, we soldiered through it. And our reward was to find abominations that we couldn't have imagined in our wildest nightmares. Abominations that were out for our blood and would send us to an eternity of torment.

Daemons entered the planet, completely disregarding the Shadow in the Warp the Hive Mind emitted, and began to utterly annihilate the Tyranids. The Great Devourer couldn't feed on beings made of emotion, and choked. The skies, they were blue before, with a large brown stain that was the Hive Fleet looming over our planets. Since the day the invasion begun, the sky turned a uniform purple color, and Daemons began to appear from everywhere. Cracks in the ground, the oceans, even out of thin air Daemons began to manifest, meaning that no place was safe.

Civilization has all but collapsed – our numbers were dwindling even before this threats came, so how on Earth were we supposed to thrive? The wildest of estimations is that there are, what, a few hundred thousand humans alive in the entire planet? Upon hearing of that estimation, I decided that no matter what, we had to make a last stand. It was a suicidal last stand or a few weeks before daemons found every single one of us, with obvious results. And we knew it was probably going to be a slow, painful death.

I thought to myself, what the hell, if there's a chance in Hell we can defeat the Daemon Prince responsible for the invasion, fuck, we're going to try. Even if we're outnumbered a thousand to one, it may only take us a single, lucky strike to get to it. The freedom of our world could be just a lucky strike ahead. We couldn't be sure, but it was trying or dying.

It'd have to be a hell of a lucky strike, but it was definitely better than simply sitting down and wait for death to get to us.

Which leads us to my current predicament. Mankind's last stand against a much more powerful enemy. Every single man and every single woman who signed up to this knew that it was a long shot in the absolute best case scenario. Yet none of them cared. They knew what carnage they were signing up for, yet they were willing to fight against it, if only to die with a little honor and glory that no one would ever remember.

And this is how we all came to stand where we are, surrounded by Daemons in all directions, stepping over the remnants of our companions, and watching as a monstrous Warp storm looms ahead of us, its gaping maw twisting and creating a thousand different images of revolting insanity and unthinkable horror that vanish before the mind can begin to comprehend them.

The insanity around me does not affect me at all, for I know that, in the end, it comes to this asshole of a Daemon Prince and me. I only ended up in this position because of a damnable run of bad luck. I remember that, when as a girl, not ten years ago, I dreamed of being a protector of mankind. I am what I dreamed then… although, understandably, I don't exactly feel pleased with the process that put me in this position.

Because of my actions, I have been blessed and cursed. Blessed, because now I am unstoppable, most certainly among the most powerful people of all time. Cursed, because I doubt I have a chance in hell of coming out alive. I'll be lucky if my soul remains free after all I have done.

But I regret nothing.

The Daemon Prince slowly raises its blade before running in my direction, each step causing Earth to tremble, already expecting to see my body broken and desiccated, before coming to a stop and attempting to slash me in half. I raise my arm to match his, and I lock blades with one of the most monstrous creatures to have ever existed.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: T-T, first and foremost, thanks for the first review and for constructive criticism (there ARE people who'd simply say "wow, youre a shitty writer"). Now, this fanfic will **begin** as a sort of "how we got here" story (we'll pick up where I left in the first chapter shortly enoug). As such, you will know many things from the beginning, but I assure you, I have planned more than one surprise for my readers. I do not intend to say this will be a great, special story - but even knowing my shortcomings as a writer, I decided to share because, hell, I enjoy writing it, maybe someone will enjoy reading as well. And about the curbstomp... there are good reasons for it. I'd say more, a lot more, but then again, I don't want to spoil the story.

* * *

The Librarian pulled the records on the War of Devouring from one of the Battle Barge's numerous libraries. It was a curious war, indeed. The Blood Raven was curious as to how a backwater planet, with no current connection to the Imperium of Mankind, could have survived after being the target of both a Tyranid invasion and a Chaos Warband. Indeed, any such world was a prime candidate to becoming either a lifeless rock or a cursed piece of insanity forever destined to roam through the madness that was the Warp.

And yet, the little planet, which housed nothing but a handful of humans locked in combat with a species of beings he was unfamiliar with, was neither of those. He had personally disembarked and recovered some of the records himself, and was eager to have a deeper look at how had the planet survived. Perhaps it hadn't, really, and all what they saw was a planet left untouched as part of some nefarious plan of Ruinous Powers. Or maybe it wasn't untouched at all, and the seeds of corruption had been planted deeply enough to cause insanity to anyone who had set foot on it.

The Librarian almost stopped in his tracks. That was a dreadful thought, and it was not out of the question that such a thing could actually happen. Maybe reading the record would shed some light on the matter.

And so he picked up the record. It had been translated by one of his Battle Brothers, and thus was ready for his interpretation. It was a second hand tale of what happened during those times, coming from some memories recovered by other Librarians. They were dumbfounded that they could find something as palpable as they did, memories imprinted in the place as though they had been left there written in large, bold letters. It was astounding. Even in the most ancient of records they couldn't find more than a few words on the technique of recovering memories from untrained minds, yet those were so obvious even the less Warp-attuned Battle Brothers could feel something off there. Even if he risked learning of maddening secrets left there on purpose by the Chaos Gods, the curiosity was too much for the Librarian to bear.

Since the Battle Barge was currently in the Warp, he knew that he wouldn't soon be bothered by anyone. Only a Daemonic breach could trouble him and the rest of the Battle Barge, but having had thousands of these travels in the past and only remembering a few of those uninvited welcomings, he was confident he could read undisturbed.

The record was not limited to the invasions themselves. The mind that had created it, though probably exceptional, was untrained, and probably did not intend to leave its memories in place, so the memories had a lot of that persons' personal life, and the events leading up to the invasions themselves.

* * *

It hasn't been long since I was introduced to the God Eaters, but I've been told my overall progress is admirable. Sure enough, in a span of no more than three months I've been ascended to a Private First Class. Nothing stellar, that's for certain, but above average? For sure.

I've been out on quite a few missions already, and I can handle myself against pretty much everything by now. Rare Aragami subspecies are still a trouble to me, but hey, that's why they are rare, right? Besides, we almost never go out alone, unless we're feeling especially suicidal when taking it or it's someone with a crazy level of skill you're talking about.

* * *

The librarian skipped ahead a few pages, without any particular interest in the personal life of the woman who had lived that. It was something born not only out of interest, or lack thereof, but also of a certain respect. He indeed felt he was not entitled to know every detail of her life, only those that pertained to what he had to know.

Disregarding all other thoughts, he skipped a few pages and kept reading.

* * *

I've been on a fair amount of missions by now. It's nothing particularly pleasant, but I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this job. Only a few close encounters with death, but when fighting things that were originally first thought to be gods, we should be thankful we even have a chance at killing these things. Aragami… they sure don't give up, though. We're no closer to getting them out of the game than we were when they were nothing but maggots, and now the largest of their kin could very well be mistaken for a mountain.

Heh. At least we have a chance in hell to drive them back, if not to defeat them once and for all. That'd be real nice, though.

A few entries ahead and nothing seemed to be unusual in the eyes of the Librarian. Sure, there were mentions of these… "Aragami", the gods she spoke of, beings who apparently were immune to anything that wasn't made up of the same cells they were, and that took on the characteristics of whatever they devoured. Thus the name of the War of Devouring, for the Aragami played an important, if secondary, role in the events.

* * *

It raised the Librarian's interest not only that the woman described those creatures with so much knowledge while every now and then cursing her lack of knowledge on them, but also that she spoke of them like they were something so normal. During their visit to the planet, the Space Marines found nothing worth of mention. And the Librarian was pretty sure that if Aragami were as frequent as they were in the woman's memories, they would have surely happened upon at least a few of them. Yet the surface was clean of anything resembling what she described.

He read on for a while about Aragami and their particularities. His interest was raised to heights he could never have imagined as he read vivid descriptions of the Aragami the mysterious woman faced: beings large as mountains that could wave their tentacles in all directions, causing nothing but chaos and mayhem in their wake; creatures that flew up in the air, resembling strange crosses of women and eggs, spraying weakening poisons on their enemies…

It was an interesting read, to be honest. One that, unlike many others, managed to keep the Librarian thrilled. He wondered how the events he read about would eventually unfold in the invasions, his mind already imagining a thousand different possibilities, but he couldn't be sure. All that he knew was that, whenever he had time to spare, he'd visit the library, take a seat and continue reading the mysterious and fascinating book and find out more about the intriguing woman who had unwillingly created it. And the troublesome beasts he couldn't imagine being defeated.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: I am abusing the usage of horizontal lines a bit, I know... but they'll be mostly gone next chapter. I'll shift to the God Eater's POV there and (mostly) stick to it. Enjoy!

* * *

The Librarian had begun to follow a routine during whatever time the long travel took his company through the Warp: he'd use his free time to read more and more of the memories his battle-brothers had found. Those memories were all that he could have asked for, and more, the pages full of knowledge he was eager to acquire, even if in the end it was useless to him.

Because, in the end, there was no such thing as useless knowledge. Knowledge was an end unto itself, and he knew that better than almost anyone. Blood Ravens, and especially their Librarians, held the line "Knowledge is power" sacred, and he was no exception. With that in mind, he picked up the now-familiar weight of the record, sat down and scrolled until he found the place where he had left it on his previous reading session.

* * *

It has been some time since anything truly remarkable has happened. I have simply been carrying out orders and following missions for a few months now, the occasional thrill that I get from hunting a new Aragami always replaced with dreadfulness as I come to the realization that they are simple subspecies of creatures I have already fought for a long time.

Make no mistakes, I am no doubt thankful of being able to consider fighting Aragami every day and coming out unharmed a routine (although to be fair, saying "unharmed" might be stretching it, since at the end of almost every day I discover some wounds and scars that weren't there the day prior). But for a job that's supposedly as dangerous as it gets, it doesn't really feel all that life threatening.

* * *

The Librarian couldn't help but chuckle after reading that passage. Oh, the irony. It was as though the galaxy had decided to fulfill her request by sending two of the most dangerous things in the universe to the planet where she lived.

Most certainly, irony at its finest.

He read up some more pages of similar content, the occasional note on Aragami becoming less and less common, until the reading session became an unbearable slog and he simply resorted to skip a few pages, in the hopes of finding something noteworthy.

* * *

Two years. It's already been two years since I became a God Eater. In that time span, I have achieved the rank of Sergeant.

I'm most definitely glad to have survived this long, and to be taking the fight to the ultimate devourers in an attempt to stall them, even if in the end we all know all we are doing amounts to fighting a battle lost before it even began.

Something has appeared in the sky. No one is sure about what it is. A week ago, it was reserved to those who had the luxury to peer to the outer space through a telescope, but now it's bare for all to see: a brownish green stain in the sky, with the shape of a few tendrils.

I don't claim to know what that is, but I have some reasons to believe it's no good. I have seen Aragami that, if left alone, looked at the stain during hours, not moving an inch from their initial place. I repeat, I have no idea of what it is, but with th strange reaction of the Aragami, I'm preparing myself for the worst case scenario: a second wave of Aragami. Or something on that level.

Just exactly what our little devastated world needs.

* * *

Tyranids.

The Librarian was well aware of what the woman was talking about. Now, all that remained to see was what exactly happened when those landed on her planet. And why the Aragami reacted so strangely to the arrival of the Great Devourer. There was a connection, that much was obvious: the mindless creatures that the… "writer" had painted most Aragami to be wouldn't simply stare all day long at something they didn't consider important.

The answer came in the next entry of the curious diary.

* * *

Something has arrived. And hell, it's most definitely not good.

I am hunting a Prithvi Mata on my own in the City of Mercy, when I hear something crashing against the floor behind me. I turn around and looked at it. It was oval in shape, and it very much looked like it was alive and breathing. An oval, spiky, living… thing, which suddenly exploded into a burst of brown-green liquid which I assume is some kind of blood. A multitude of small, insect-looking beings begin to crawl out of it. The creatures aren't much longer than a meter each, and while individually they didn't pose much of a threat, their numbers were more than enough to make me worry. Fortunately, in my stupor they ignore me and go for the largest target first, and while the Mata was able to resist for a few seconds and bring down many of them, it was but an instant before the icy Aragami fell.

I am dumbfounded by the realization that these monsters can actually kill Aragami, but I don't let that feeling numb my combat instinct. By the time the monsters turn their attention to me, I am already shooting a hail of bullets in their direction, and when they begin to approach I escape to a nearby building's roof in a jump I wouldn't have thought possible a moment ago. My bullet rain comes to a sudden halt as my Blast Gun has run out of ammo, and I have no choice but to meet the insects in melee combat, in which they prove remarkably quick but unable to work as a team, thus getting in each other's way and making it possible for me to kill them. When I am finished with them, I can't avoid looking above me, to see if the stain in the sky has anything to do with this.

To say that what I see horrifies me is a major understatement.

The stain now occupies almost half of the night sky, no longer a uniform stain but a myriad of points grouped in shapes which remind me of something unsettling.

Tendrils.

I don't know what we're facing, but this seems to be a really great omen. Our future's never been this bright, I'm certain.


	4. Chapter 3

I don't lie if I say that my mind takes quite a few seconds to process all that's happened thus far. Our world, invaded by some sort of... space... locusts. Which are capable of killing Aragami with relative ease. The mere idea of something close to that even having a chance of happening I would have deemed insane a few hours ago, yet now it's nothing but an awful truth, an imminent threat that we're going to have to deal with as soon as possible.

However, after some initial moments of confusion, I begin to think with clarity: after this new threat's appearance, I realize that I have to go back to base, both to inform of what's happened and to make sure it isn't being assaulted. Terrified by the thought of the monstrosities potentially attacking the base and slaughtering everyone inside while I'm far away, I begin to run as fast as my Oracle-enhanced body can handle and make my way there, expecting to find the diminutive yet lethal creatures hacking away at the door.

Which, unsurprisingly, they are. I come to a stop some hundred meters away, paying special attention not to draw any unwanted attention. The door seems to be holding up relatively fine, although I have no way to know if they've been hacking at it for hours or if they've just begun. Thus, I have no way to know how long it will stay unyielding. I also realize that, unless I take an advantageous position, I am hopelessly outmatched by the dozens upon dozens of beasts' attacks, and therefore I begin to look at any direction in hopes of finding something that might give me an edge in fighting the little pests. In a matter of a few seconds, I see a wrecked vehicle not too far away, probably from well before the times the Aragami ravaged the land. The large truck seems to be a good place where I could control the monsters' flow, although it also means taking a large risk: if I can't deal with them, I will have no way out.

However, the metal husk is also across a large open field. And that large, open field just so happens to come across the monsters' position, meaning that there's no sure way to get there without drawing their attention. And I still do not know how fast they can actually move, so I have to take my chances and hope they don't move faster than I can, or I am doomed. I weigh my chances and then arrive to the decision that another life or death race tonight won't make much of a difference.

Funny, I would totally have thought any such thoughts to be suicidally overconfident a couple of days ago.

I begin to run towards the old vehicle at a fast pace, making sure to be as noisy as possible in order to draw the monsters' attention, and hopefully their aggresion. Sure enough, they nigh-instantly drop their so far futile efforts to destroy the door and begin to follow me quite fast, though not fast enough to force me to increase my speed.

I arrive to the truck and quickly jump in. Afterwards, I turn around to look at my enemies. It doesn't take long before I'm forced to begin slashing wildly in order to keep them at bay, my initial estimation that the truck would hinder them in any way completely and utterly wrong. They can jump pretty damn high, the bastards. Fortunately, while the monsters are pretty quick by normal human standards (and much faster than an initial evaluation would have lead to believe), are incapable of moving fast enough to catch me off guard, and slowly but surely their numbers begin to dwindle. Before long, though, I am exhausted and overexerted, but I push the feeling away from me: there's no place for fatigue in this battle. If accompanied, perhaps I would house the thought of giving up and wait for a link aid, but being alone and facing an unknown threat, that's not a chance. So I push myself over whatever thresholds I previously though I had, in the hopes of ending this fast.

Suddenly, when I feel I can move no more, I feel a rush of energy. I have no idea where it might be from, but if forced to guess, I'd say it's an Oracle cell rush. With no allies nearby to shoot a healing bullet, the only thing that can lead to this happening is my body burning through my Oracle reservoirs in a desperate attempt to keep me running, and a quick glance to my God Arc's OP display confirms this. Fortunately (and curiously), attacking my enemies seems to recharge the counter, albeit much slower than slashing an Aragami would. Thus I can keep myself fighting while giving it all for a looooong while, slashing and cutting and blocking and jumping and smacking and simply surviving the incoming onslaught, until I begin to see the enemy lines thinning significantly.

Yet when their numbers have dwindled is when the creatures give out their most. Recklessly, all the monsters speed up their assault, and I take what's likely the largest chance so far, jumping far above them only to come down and crash down over them, shield first, sending them all to oblivion and splattering brown-green blood everywhere.

Well, all but one of them, but that one I manage to cut in half when it tried to jump towards me, jagged maw first. A few stragglers still attack at the door, but those I manage to incinerate with my Gun before they see me coming.

Exhausted, the Oracle rush having all but finished, I have to do an inhuman effort to walk to the door and bang on it, as loud as I can.

-HELP! OPEN!

To my dismay, it takes quite a while of banging before anyone opens. I am on the verge of unconsciousness by the time someone opens the door. I notice there's a small dent where I banged the door all this while.

-Thank god someone came! We thought we were done for.

-Not one here? - I manage to say, my voice raspy and low.

-No. Most of the experienced God Eaters were out on a mission when they came. And the rookie ones couldn't take the risk.

I only have one thought before collapsing, and it is one word long.

 **Shit.**

* * *

It's been a few days since the first encounter with the insects happened. I have had no personal encounters with them, but then again, just today I managed to wake up. Most of the experienced God Eaters came back, but the number who didn't was alarming.

Apparently, one of my superior officers left me the order to stand guard here when I woke up. Although normally I'd curse if I were given such a command, today I feel relieved. Nothing like some peace and quiet for a few days, I've had enough fighting for quite some time.

Of course, this being _me_ I'm talking about, something arrives after a while and the door begins to do... unpleasant noises. Doesn't sound like someo- something is hacking away at it, like the small creatures were; rather, it sounds like a bash, and a pretty forceful one, at that. And then another. And another. And another. The door vibrates with every strike, and it's not long before a particularly strong hit blows it right off its hinges.

A huge space locust stands there, victorious. It's the size of a Vajra, if said Vajra stood on two short yet sturdy hind legs. Much like its smaller kin, it has four "arms", essentially monstrous single claws: two of them thin and razor-sharp, looking like they could cut through solid steel; the other two thicker and sturdier, no doubt useful to crush whatever the other pair couldn't cut through. The creature seems to be in a hunched position, but that might be due to the shape of its back carapace, which even at first sight looks utterly impervious to any kind of harm.

The beast roars triumphant, and with my luck, I know it's probably looking forward to find out what colors our innards are, and how tasty they are with some tomato sauce.

Just when I thought I'd get some peace and quiet...


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: I will post chapters of this once a week. Not quite once every 7 days, as you've probably noticed, but I'll try my best. It's just that, as you all probably know, life does have its ways to keep one busy.

* * *

The creature does not attack immediately. Instead, it stands in place, looking at its surroundings, as if all it wanted was to gather info on us. Or perhaps it just wants to be aware of how its surroundings are so it doesn't get any nasty surprise. Either way, whatever it is, it isn't like the previous creatures, monstrous and deadly but completely devoid of anything but basic instinct; this one has intelligence, however rudimentary it might be.

A minute or two pass before the beast begins to move, crushing whatever remains of the door beneath its feet. It moves ever forward, slowly at first but getting faster and faster with each passing moment. I wait in my position, and when it gets close to me, I jump upwards and land precariously on its back carapace, which I proceed to slash in hopes of exposing some vital organ or weak point.

Unfortunately, just as my initial evaluation said, the carapace is nigh impervious to the cutting edge of my blade, much like a Vajra's cape, and I have to jump off before the beast crushes me against a wall. I land and change my God Arc to Gun mode, but before shooting I need to make sure that I don't have equipped an explosive bullet. That's the last thing I need when fighting in the base.

But I do happen to have one equipped, and it takes me a second of scrolling through my bullet list to find one that won't bury me under three meters of rubble. By the time I changed it, the monstrosity is already near, charging me like before, and I have to roll to avoid a full-on impact, which would no doubt break every single bone in my body, and then some.

I roll out of the way, the charging monster just barely missing my midsection. Before it has time to stop, I shoot at it with everything I have. It's no use at first, since its back carapace protects it from any attacks from behind; but when it turns, I make sure to fill its body with searing, white-hot Oracle cells, doing quite some damage and burning a large part of the monstrous creature's abdomen. To my despair, however, whatever damage I caused it begins to heal pretty fast, and while it's not fast enough to make it truly unbeatable, it does make things quite a bit more complicated.

Nevertheless, I do not let this new discovery to deterr me, and I continue shooting at the monster until my Arc runs out of Oracle Cells to spare for bullets, occasionally dodging an attack from the monster's titanic claws. I keep up my attack in melee after ranged combat is no longer an option, but I notice that each claw counterattack comes closer and closer to cutting me in half. Eventually, one of the attacks is too fast for me to dodge, and instead of trying to avoid it I put my God Arc in the way, hoping to reduce the damage as much as possible.

Underestimating the attack's power, I am sent flying backwards on impact. I crash against a wall and hear a loud *crack* noise. I can't help but scream in agony.

I overcome the pain as much as possible, and realize I've dislocated my left arm. Before I can do anything, I am forced to dodge the creature, which is charging at me at full speed. Unable to stop, the monster crashes against the wall and breaks it, getting half of its body stuck inside.

Trying to make the most of my free second, I make a supreme effort and manage to put my arm back in place. *CRACK*.

...

-RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

Oh god _the pain._

That was a bad decision. To say that the pain is unbearable is a major understatement; I am reduced to a screaming mess, lying on the floor. This is why you wait for medical attention. I bet someone with some medical experience could have done that much less painful. I am certain that, were I not an Oracle Enhanced superhuman... being, I would not have been able to stay conscious, let alone put the damn thing back in place.

In time, however, the pain subsides, and I can rise up to my feet again, still trembling due to the ordeal. The monster is still stuck in the wall, but not for long: before I can prepare myself for an attack, its thick claws destroy the wall and release it from its imprisonment.

I have little chances of success with brute strength, especially now that I've been harmed pretty badly. I will have to rely on wits and thought to have a chance.

Ugh, my arm. I can't move it. Guess I'll have to make do with one hand.

The monster stands triumphant, and closes in for the kill. When it reaches me, it opens its mouth and tries to devour me, but, noticing the opportunity, I drive the God Arc right through its head, causing a rather large jet of the insect's green-brown blood to splatter all over the place.

The creature backs away with surprising speed, without giving me time to pull the blade away from its head. Screaming horridly, the monster tries to take the blade away from its head with its claws, but that doesn't help it one bit; in fact, that the sword has a serrated edge means that pulling it away would only cause it more harm.

It finally gets ahold of the God Arc and pull it outwards with all its might, but as predicted, the blade causes some major damage in the process, pieces of the monster's carapace and innards flying all over the place.

I wait for the overgrown insect to die so I can up my blade, but to my surprise it still tries to stand. Come to think of it, the monster is so alien I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't have a brain.

Weakened but still alive, the monstrosity roars in pure fury and begins to charge in my direction, and I decide to make a run for my blade. I get it before the creature is anywhere near me, and quickly change from Blade to Gun mode. Huh, it's actually pretty damn hard to even keep the damn thing straight with just one hand. Who would've known? I wait for the monster to arrive to me before dodging the charge altogether. I jump on its back and put the gun's barrel in its head, quickly grabbing the trigger with my healthy arm.

- _Bang_.

The creature had already sustained some major damage, and the blazing bullets in its head are simply too much to resist. With a final noise that I assume is a cry of pain, it collapses.

However, against all odds, the beast doesn't stay still, and tries to impale me with one of its claws. I dodge it with ease and decide to use the one thing I have not tried yet: devouring it.

I prepare the Predator mouth and let it chomp on the monster, killing it for good. However, the weapon seems unable to process the entirety of the devoured cells, and before I can realize it develops a tendril, which then connects to my arm, much like the first time I grabbed it so long ago.

Getting a blood transfusion from this one is the last thing I want, and I have no way to know how my body will reactHowever, I can't spend that much time pondering the possible consecuences of this development, as before long my vission gets clouded and the feeling of my consciousness slowly drifting away takes hold of me.


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for both the delay (hopefully I can put out a chapter by, say, Wednesday?) and the ludicrous amounts of dialogue below. Hopefully, it won't distract anyone from what actually matters; there are three or four things pretty critical to the story here.

* * *

I wake up once again on the Medical Bay... hopefully this won't become routine. My vision is blurred, but that's probably due to the fact that I just came out of unconsciousness.

I feel... odd. I keep hearing this static-like noise, almost too low to notice yet too constant to be completely disregarded.

But I discard that thought for now. There are more urgent matters at hand: a God Eater whom I can't immediately recognize, but whose clothing indicates she's a superior officer, is in my room. After my eyes can finally see clearly and I get a good look at her, I sigh. It's my older sister.

-Hey Ev. How do you feel? - She asks, her voice friendly and welcoming. She hasn't forgotten about it, has she?

-Hello, Mary. Well, as you probably have figured out by now, I feel like I'm growing more accustomed to being unsconscious than I'd like to.

-You should be grateful you're still alive after that ordeal.

-You... know what I fought?

-Well duh, there ARE cameras in the base, after all.

I would facepalm, but I notice I can't move my left arm.

-Hey, what happen... - Wait, I know exactly what happened. That's not the question I want to ask. - How bad is it?

-Well, to put things in perspective, the doctors say that if you had been hit only a bit stronger, you would have gotten an exposed shoulder fracture. Not pretty.

-Not pretty at all. - I comment. - So, why are you here? I doubt you came out of the goodness in your heart.

-Can't I be concerned with my sister's safety?

-It would be *very* out of character for you.

She lets out a sigh before speaking again.

-How did you know?

-I understand people.- I answer with a shrug. - Especially you. Why are you here?

-You see, there have been attacks like the ones you've been fending off all around the world. Most of them have already slaughtered any opposition they might have met.

-How so?

-You're so far one of four God Eaters who's managed to kill one of the bigger ones, one on one.

-Really? - She nods. I'm more than a bit proud, but also ashamed, in a way. - All it took to beat it was a bit of brains. Is the world so lacking in grey matter?

-Apparently so.

-You still didn't tell me what you're doing here.

-I don't have a chance, do I?

-No.

-Fine. You devoured a monster from outer space, in case you didn't realize. They wanted me here so I could... keep you in check.

-Keep me in check?

-They're waiting for you to either go insane or transform into one of them. - I open my mouth to complain, but she answers my question before I have the chance of asking it. - Which they are completely entitled to: you recklessly devoured a space insect and let its cells enter your bloodstream. No one knows what might happen. They're just being cautious, that's it. And they wanted someone who knew you a lot: that's where I come in.

-In that case... I suppose I should say that I have been hearing something ever since I woke up, kind of like static. Too low to be actually annoying, yet too high to ignore altogether.

-And you've only now began feeling it? After you devoured the monster?

-Yeah.

-Well, if you feel anything odd, th-

At that very moment, the static noise's volume gets increased a millionfold, and drowns out everything else. A voice speaks, though saying it is *a* voice is wrong: it sounds like a cacophony of shrieking voices, forever in pain. They speak in a messy chorus, their words not truly words but their meaning and intention both as clear as crystalline water.

-*KILL... THEM. DEVOUR... THEM.*

I return to my senses quickly enough. My sister is staring at me with a frantic look, one hand on my shoulder, shaking me, and I know I've probably spaced out.

-Ev! EV!

-I'm here, I'm here! Calm down, I've returned.

-What happened?

-I've just... heard something. An order.

-What did it command?

-To kill everyone and devour them. - I say. - Fortunately for everyone here, I have no intention of obeying that command.

-I'm trembling of terror. - She says, her voice positively dripping with sarcasm. - THE ATTACK OF THE HALF BROKEN, WEAPONLESS WOMAN! Give me a second to cower, I'm terrified out of my senses. The prospect of such a thr-

-Yeah, yeah, I got it, thank you very much. Any idea of how long I'll have to stay like this? - I question, motioning at my wounded arm.

-It should be alright by now. You know, you spent a couple of weeks out of combat, so it has had time to fix itself.

-Weeks? - Holy crap. - This place is still standing?

-Yeah, they're not that tough once you've figured out their tactics... or lack thereof. Rule of thumb: attack the bigger ones and the smaller ones will go insane. In most cases, anyway.

-But there are many of them.

-They're endless. No matter how many we kill, they keep coming. There are enough of them so as to make the amount of Aragami of the old days look small by comparison, although the smaller ones can't compare to even an Ogretail... individually, of course.

-No Aragami have survived?

-Some have. And while their numbers are greatly diminished, they have become MUCH tougher thanks to this invasion.

-How so?

-Think "orders of magnitude". The saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is pretty literally true when speaking of them.

-So, when are we going out? I'm itching to get some fresh air.

-We can go out right now. Just take off the sling. Some doctor is likely going to complain, but they said that you'd be alright, were it not for the rather glaring fact that you were unconscious.

I remove the thing, which allows me to regain movement in my left arm. My arm tingles, though that sure owes to the time it spent completely immobilized. I stand up and my stomach growls.

-Ungh, I'm hungry.

-We'll pick up some rations on our way out.

-Ok. Where's Blackout? - I instantly regret my words, since I only ever call my God Arc that when I'm alone. Even then, I'm not sure why I used the term. It's been quite a while since the woman who named it died, and I've tried to forget it, if only because the memory of her death is still something painful to relive.

-Blackout?

-Right... that's my Arc. It's the name of the Blade part, but since that's what I use 90% of the time, it kinda became the entire Arc's name. - I lie, and it's a pretty shameless lie. - It must be in the Arc Vault.

We pick up some rations, and then go and pick up the (comparatively) short-bladed Arc.

-Wow... your Arc sure is something.

After seeing it so long, I don't think anything of the Arc, though objectively speaking it truly does stand out. The blade is made in its entirety of a reflecting black alloy, polished to reflect light much as a mirror does even despite the many scratches it has, owing to the thousand missions it has been part of. The Blast Gun and the Tower Shield parts are made of the same alloy and have the same metallic sheen, although that's less visible in the latter due to the sheer amount of scratches on its surface. Many a death blow has been turned into a mere gust of wind thanks to it.

However, before I can pick it up, the hellish cacophony of shrieking voices drowns my entire being in noise once again.

-*FIND... HER. KILL... HER.*

Without any need of further information, I can tell that the... "communication" was a broadcast rather than a personal message. And that her... I'm 100% certain that was me.

Now, why would such a thing, whatever it is, want me dead? Then it hits me.

This can only be the monsters' shared mind, and I gained some connection by eating that particular monster's very essence, incorporating it in my God Arc.

It may be pretty neat to know what the enemy does, but I won't deny it, the prospect of becoming the target of all those things... it isn't pretty.

As if echoing my thoughts, a monstrous roar can be heard in the distance.


	7. Chapter 6

As we leave the base, the static noise in my head intensifies once more, but it doesn't turn into a distinct message; rather, it turns into a disorganized array of feelings from countless diferent beings, most of them pretty much the same with only a small variation. With some effort, I can... "feel" what each creature sees and thinks. Most of them are focused on eating whatever is at hand, but more than a few of them have an image on their mind, one which I find pretty disturbing: it's an image of me, albeit pretty distorted.

The multitude of voices doesn't particularly annoy me, nor does it get in the way of my actual thinking (meaning I can still think, act and react naturally), but the fact that many of them are thinking of me is somewhat unnerving, to say the very least. I mean, it's not as though them thinking of me means I'm going to get a lot of presents or something. It's pretty obvious that they're not here to do anything other than killing everything. What a relaxing thought.

My sister seems to notice that there's something weird about me, and she's quick to ask me about it.

-Everything alright, Ev?

-Yes, I'm very much fine, thank you oh so much for asking. I mean, it's not as though I just became the target of an entire alien species that can somehow slaughter Aragami by simply defending myself from an uncalled attack, is it?

-You don't have to be so bitter.

-Oh, I'm sorry, miss I-never-did-anything-wrong, but you see, I'm not the one pretending to have for-

At that very moment, our sudden argument gets interrupted by another monstrous scream, and a large creature remarkably similar to the one I fought not so long ago.

However, this one is alone, but we're two right now, and I'm not limited to non-explosive bullets. Before it finishes screaming, I jump over its back and unload a huge Blaze radial bullet, burning its insides in a shower of fire, while Mary smashes its legs with her huge hammer, crushing them and causing the monster to fall.

-Watch out, they regenerate! - I manage to scream in between the huge blasts of fire. - Flame is the most effective thing.

-Well then it's fortunate that I put some Sekhmet materials in the hammer before all of this crap happened!

The monster doesn't last long against our combined efforts. A pitiful whimpering noise signals its final moments.

I jump back alongside my sister. She looks at me, expresionless.

-As much as I hate to say this, there's no one I'd rather team up with rather than you. - I admit with a sigh.

-Yeah. You're moving a bit faster than I remember.

-Really? - She nods affirmatively. - Well, no idea why.

-Hmm, odd. Nevermind. Can we, you know, let the past behind and focus on the present? I know you have little love for me after all , but we can't just stand here flinging insults at each other while these things are eating the entire planet.

-Fine, fine, but don't think you're getting out of this scot-free. We'll definitely sort things out for good when all of this mess ends.

-Dear sister, when was the last time a threat this huge _actually had an end_ , huh?

-Damn you. - I reply. - I have to ask, did we actually have a purpose to come out here?

-Find out more about the monsters? Fend off any potential attackers? Discover the enemy's tactics? Whatever suits you the most, Ev.

-Riiight...

We go on walking for a while, without any other monsters getting in the way. It's a calm day, and I would go as far as to say it's a beautiful one. Of course, to say that I'd have to ignore the fact that there are monsters which are still pretty much unknown to us roaming the planet and eating everything.

Huh, come to think about it, these assholes have quite a lot in common with the Aragami.

Nothing happens for quite a while. The day is calm, and we don't come across anything. Some of the small monsters can be seen in the distance every now and then, but they flee as soon as they see us.

-They must be asking for reinforcements. - I comment whenever I see one.

Yet the reinforcements never appear, which leaves us concerned. Just where are they going?

At a given point, the cacophony of thoughts invades me once again. This time, their thoughts are all focused in the same thing, a single command: I interpretate it as "retreat". All of the monsters are falling back and fortifying their positions. Not a single one thinking on me. I have to admit, it's quite refreshing to know that, but it's also kind of... odd. What could possibly make them change their minds- eh, mind, so quickly?

The voices fall silent once again only seconds after having started.

* * *

It's another couple of hours of walking before something breaks the silence again; specifically, my sister's voice, her tone indicating weariness.

-It's getting pretty late. What do you say if we return to the base and get some rest?

-Yeah, alright. I doubt there's anything useful we can do out here, now

-Hey now, you agree with me?

-Don't push it.

After a long day with hardly any combat, we begin our return to base. The rations we had picked up for the field trip are depleted.

We find ourselves back home in no time. However, something's off.

That something being that the entire building is on fire. I can't help but scream in despair.

-No! NNNNOOOOOO!

I rush inside, at such a speed that it's impossible for any rational thoughts to form in my head. The place is relatively unharmed, and people run about, screaming wildly.

I stop a God Eater whom I don't recognize and question him.

-What's going on? What happened? Why is everything on fire and why is no one following the fire protocol?

-There's something... someone... in the base. He's the one responsible for the fire, and all our attempts at taking care of it have been for naught.

Only then do I realize that the fire isn't red, but it's actually pink. Pink fire... now I've seen everything.

-Then don't you think we should, I don't know, EVACUATE THE GODDAMN PLACE?! Come on, get out of here and take as many people with you as possible. Everyone must go to the same shelter.

-On whose command is that order issued? - He asks. Oh come on... I slap him in the face with the back of my hand before replying.

-In case you didn't realize, THE ENTIRE FREAKING BUILDING IS ON FIRE! AND WE CAN'T PUT IT OFF! GET YOUR ASS INTO GEAR AND MOVE OUTTA HERE, **NOW!**

-Alright, I will. - He tries to leave, but I catch him first. I have something to ask of him.

-Where did that... thing appear?

-It's in the East dormitories. But don't go there!

-No luck. I _WILL_ find out what's going on.

I wait a second for my sister to catch up to me, and as soon as she arrives, I begin moving right in the direction of the Eastern dormitories, ignoring her questions.

-We'll have time for explanations later. Follow me!

I am also hiding the fact that I have absolutely no idea of what the hell is going on. "A thing appeared out of the blue and set everything on fire" isn't the best explanation ever.

When we arrive to the dormitories' section, the fire practically engulfs us. However, strangely enough, I don't feel any hotter than I did outside.

-Strange... the flames aren't actually hot.

-Somehow that doesn't make me any more comfortable. - My sister comments. I nod in agreement.

We cross the small path where the mysterious flame doesn't burn... and there we find a strange metallic thing, covered in spikes, lying against the wall.

The metal hunk begins to move, and only then do I realize that the thing is remarkably human in shape.

In fact, it looks like a huge armor.

The creature then stands straight, well over two and a half meters tall and approximately the same width. The whole thing is covered in spikes, and it carries something akin to a huge maul in its hands.

When the thing finally turns, I can finally get a good look at what's inside the armor.

There's a man inside, all of his body below his head disappearing within the metallic behemoth of an armor he uses. His head is completely hairless, and his skin has an eerily pale color. His face is entirely covered a gigantic tatoo of a black eight-pointed star, and it's hard to fins an inch of skin not sporting any scars. His eyes are completely blank white spheres, almost glowing with energy.

He looks at us with great interest, as if he were eyeing a couple or rats. Before either of us has time to react, he suddenly begins to speak, his voice a raspy and deep wail, making it sound like he's milennia old.

He utters only two words, but I'm pretty damn certain I'll never forget those words. It may well be the end of an era, marked by these two words.

-For Chaos!

* * *

A/N: You know, I was going to delay the appearance of Chaos a lot more (four chapters at the very least), but then I realized dragging things out while everyone already knows the result and without any planned twists would kind of make things **reaaaaaaally** slow.

(And in case you wonder, I have this tendency to screw up pretty bad when I do plot twists without planning.)


	8. Chapter 7

"For Chaos!"

The phrase echoes in my mind, casting noises into the deepest parts of my consciousness. This is no ordinary foe I'm facing, this is no mindless monster I'm about to fight. This is a man who seems all too willing (or should I say, a bit *too* willing) to kill me. With but a glance to his eyes I can tell there's no peaceful way out of this mess I got myself into: that man (assuming he's even human) has been insane for longer than I've been alive. Bloodshed is the only possible solution.

How did this happen? How *could* this happen? How did our world suffer these two invasions in barely a month's time? It's impossible; by all means we shouldn't be facing all of this... and yet here we are, about to fight a man almost twice as tall as I am.

There's certainly nothing wrong with the situation, is there?

The man closes in on me at a surprising speed for someone clad in armor so heavy and drops his maul above me. While he is obviously very, very strong, they aren't particularly fast, and I can dodge and counterattack before the maul even hits the ground. To my surprise, however, the blade bounces off the armor and barely leaves a small mark.

That's when the maul hits the ground.

The impact sends a powerful shockwave that sends me flying against a wall. I manage to maneuver in mid-air and land on my feet, some twelve meters away from the armored man. I look over at my sister, who managed to block the shockwave; she runs in fast and hits the man in the shoulder with her hammer, and while the weapon bounces off like my own had not too long ago, the strike breaks the shoulder pad (which I only now realize is _extremely_ large, even considering the man's size) and sends a few pieces of metal flying. One of them is sent my way and causes a small cut in my cheek.

The man looks more annoyed than hurt, however, and with a backhand he hits my sister, who's sent back a couple of meters due to the strength of the blow. She seems to have lost her consciousness, and he approaches her, slowly raising his maul in preparation for a finishing blow.

I run towards him before he has a chance to deliver the killing attack, and, instead of attacking him, I direct my blade towards the maul itself. The impact doesn't damage either weapon, but the maul is sent a short distance away from the armored man. I land on my feet, facing right at him, and gesturing him to come at me.

-You're letting ME disarm you? How utterly pathetic.

The man screams inhumanly before running at me much faster than before, each step making a powerful, thunderous noise. He rams directly at me and tries to crush me with a strike from his undamaged shoulder pad. I easily step out of the way and strike at his head. However, the shoulder pad blocks my strike, and once again my weapon is all but useless against the powerful armor.

He notices my futile attempts at attacking him, and he emits a dreadful noise before trying to swat me away like a mosquito, but I block the strike with my Tower Shield. The clash between the armor and the shield produces a strong noise, and I hear a shout coming from the man. I withdraw my shield, and I see that the attempted backhand actually destroyed the armor in his forearm.

He doesn't seem hurt, though; if anything, he's only enraged further. He stands straight and charges in my direction once more; however, I position myself near a wall and then I dodge his strike, causing him to crash against the wall. The impact ends up harming the wall more than it does him, but nevertheless he is left rather dizzy. I use the occasion to strike at his elbow joint, and for the first time in the fight my attack is successful: instead of bouncing off, the blade finally meets muscle and bone to tear through. The attack makes a clean cut, severing his left forearm off his body. He lets out an impressive array of profanity as he grips his wounded limb, and afterwards he gives me a look charged to the brim with nothing but hatred and fury.

Despite how much I hate the situation, I force myself to smirk smugly at him, all while taunting him even further.

-What's the matter, cripple? Am I too much for you to handle?

He emits a noise which can only be described as a roar, something that I never would've thought a human being could emit.

-RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

He runs to his maul and picks it up with his remaining hand, all before running up to me incredibly fast and trying to attack me in a frenzied rage. I barely have time to raise my Tower Shield before the attack strikes me.

The collision between the maul and the shield produces an impressive shockwave to, sending both of us recoiling backwards. The impact left a tingling sensation in my arms, but I pay little attention to that. I use the few seconds my opponent is away to take a few deep breaths and look at Mary.

She looks fine. If I could get a free second, I could give her a Link-Aid. That'd give us the numerical advantage back. However, I can't muse on it for too long, for before I can think of another move, the maul falls over me at full speed.

The impact doesn't hurt at first. It's as though the sheer strength of the strike removed my mind from my body. I am sent flying against a wall, my body producing a loud noise as it crashes against the hard concrete.

Upon falling to the floor, the pain appears. It's crippling. Searing. It feels as though every bone in my body was repeatedly smashed from a thousand different directions, then submerged in a pool of molten metal. I don't know how I remain conscious. I beg for unconsciousness to embrace me, yet the pain never ends.

I make a supreme effort and rise up, causing a new wave of pain to travel through the entirety of my body. I drop to my knees, but I will myself back to a standing position. The effort is almost too great for me to take, but I don't let that defeat me. Pain alone shall not be my undoing.

I see the man laughing maniacally, unaware of his surroundings. He must think me dead.

This is my chance. I put my hand in my pocket and take out a restore pill, and I take it to my mouth as fast as I can. Within instants I feel the pain diminish, not completely but enough to move and fight again.

He begins to walk slowly towards my sister, his lone hand gripping his maul and raising it above his head. This is it. It's all or nothing now. I change my Arc's form, and then I run towards him as fast as I can. When I am a few meters behind, I jump above him.

Time seems to slow down as I aim my weapon right towards the only opening in his armor and pull the trigger. A huge wave of red fire comes out of my weapon, the sheer force of the bullet sending me backwards, and the flames engulfing all of the man's towering figure.

When I stand once again, I look in his direction, expecting to see a carbonized mess of metal where short moments ago his figure stood.

Instead, he still breathes. Not unscathed, not even close, but somehow still alive. He lies in the floor, a wreck, a mere shadow of the imposing figure he was but a few moments ago; his face is an unrecognizable mess of charred, half-molten flesh that can hardly be recognized as human anymore; his armor reduced to liquified metal, slowly dripping over the floor. By all means he shouldn't be alive, there is no possible way he can still live, yet he somehow still breathes, or at least struggles to do it.

I walk up to him slowly, observing how his every attempt to stand up fails miserably. When I reach him, I simply change my God Arc's form and I plunge the blade right through the mangled remains of his head, seemingly ending his miserable life once and for all.

After taking out the blade, however, he slowly raises his head and looks at me. **_Dear lord, why won't you just die?!_** He stares at me for a second before emitting a dry noise that I believe must have been an attempt at laughing. Afterwards, he speaks to me in a barely audible whisper.

-You think... you've managed something? The beasts... the Tyranids, they were but warm up. I, the first Marine... I am only the beginning. The first... of many. Your world will burn, and your blood will be spilled.

His head then drops to the ground, lifeless.


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey, I've cracked the thousand views milestone!

I, uh... don't know how good that actually is, though. You know, this being my first fic and all...

Eh, just enjoy the fic, will you?

* * *

This... this is too much to take.

My mind should be an unrecognizable mess. I don't know how I can keep going on after this realization. I should be destroyed, utterly demoralized, yet here I stand, "victorious" over this... " _Marine_ ".

The first one of many.

This one man could do all of this. Set the entire building on fire, wreak havok and K.O. an experienced God Eater with a simple backhand.

And he was only the first. The tip of the vanguard. I wonder what horrors could possibly compose the thick of the enemy forces: I imagine a million different scenarios, each more brutal and more demoralizing than the previous one. In each, we face monsters somehow more bloodthirsty and violent than the one before it, abominations taken straight out of the darkest nightmares of the most twisted minds, all of them carving a bloody path of destruction, decimating our warriors left and right. And they leave a burning trace of insanity, one that sinks deep into the earth and embeds itself in it, tainting and twisting the very planet down to the core, shaping it into a crazed shadow, a crude mockery of its former self erected as a monument in direct opposition to everything we ever held dear.

And yet here I stand, surprised myself by how little it affects me to know how very screwed up things are about to get. Well, they've always said I'm not one to give up in the face of adversity... truth be told, though, I'm closer to collapsing than ever before.

In my defense, not many have lived to see all of their world collapsing so damn fast. Knowing this is only the beginning demoralizes me, yes, but it also gives me strength to fight against the coming darkness, because deep down I know that there is- that there has to be a chance to improve things, to fight in order to prevent the worst case scenario from ever happening.

A grunt to my right removrs me from my deep thoughts; it's my sister, who managed to stand up on her own.

-You... you killed it?

Geez, won't she ever stop being so bloody stupid and asking about the obvious?

-Take a wild guess.

-Cut me some slack, will you? I just got up after being slapped in the skull by a huge metallic tin can.

-I'll cut you some slack wh... you know what? It doesn't matter. Let's just head to wherever the rest of the group has evacuated and brace for what's to come.

-Brace for what?

-While you were being helpful lying on the floor, that man told me some really interesting things. Like the fact that he's just the first of many.

-That bodes ill for us all.

-No shit, miss detective. Next thing I know you're going to tell me Aragami are dangerous, or that armlets are red.

-Well, there IS a unit with black arm-

-Shut up, pick your Arc and follow me.

We return to the entrance, where people are still screaming and running and generally being useless and making asses of themselves... even though I recall having told someone to evacuate the place. Does anyone ever do anything right? I stop dead in my tracks and shout as loud as I can, so as to command everyone's attention.

- **STOP!**

Gradually, people stop running and turn their heads to me.

-We need to evacuate the area?

-But didn't you kill the one responsible for it? - The man I spoke to comments.

-Well, yeah, but do you see the unnatural fire receding?

-Flame's not dangerous. It ain't hot. Want me to prove it? - Great, not only does he lack short term memory, but he's also an idiot.

-I'd rather not have anyone touch something with an unknown origin. Who knows wha-

The imbecile disregards my advice, placing his hand over the flame.

Several things happen at that moment, simultaneously. An ominous noise can be heard, and the man begins to scream as a red layer of... something begins to take over his arm. The red layer quickly takes over his entire body, changing it. His fingers turn into pointed claws, his feet turn into hooves, and his head loses all hair and instead grows a pair of fiery horns.

When the transformation is finished, the creature extends its arm and a sword engulfed in fire appears in its hand.

-A daemon! - Someone shouts. In an instant, the place devolves into a chaotic mess (again) as everyone makes their way to the entrance, fleeing from the daemonic being.

I stay put, looking at the creature with a mix of hatred and... well, it's actually just hatred. I don't know if there's even a sliver of the man still there or not, but either way I will not hesitate to send the daemon back to wherever it came from.

The creature moves extremely fast and before I realize it's already making a movement towards my head with its sword. More out of reflex than anything, I raise my own blade and block the strike, the flaming edge stopping just a few centimeters away from my neck. I can feel the heat emanating from the daemonic weapon, and I begin to sweat profusely.

I am stuck in this awkward position, trying to push the enemy blade away just as the daemon pushes in order to reach my neck. I try to move to a more comfortable position, but my God Arc trembles with the movement, and I fear that changing my stance will break my hold over the daemon blade. Regardless, our forces are pretty even, and the blades tremble, but don't move from their position.

Through my peripheral vision, I see my sister closing in, brandishing her hammer. She attempts to strike the daemon, but the beast is too fast and blocks her strike with the blade; however, this leaves it wide open for an attack on my side, and I capitalize on the opening by sinking my blade all the way to the handle in the daemon's midsection, then pulling it outwards in a rising arc. The attack tears the creature open, causing it to drop to the ground, lifeless.

The fire begins to burn brighter, and slowly but surely it begins to overtake the building. With only a nod, my sister and I agree that we need to leave the place as fast as possible. However, before leaving, there's something I must do.

I run between the flames and enter the Southern dormitories section, looking for a very specifical room - my own. I find it unharmed, though the flames are threatening to engulf it at any moment. I enter the place and rummage through some of the stuff I have lying around, until I found just what I was looking for: my bracer. I put it in my left forearm before desperately beginning to look for another thing, a small portrait I had somewhere, with a picture of my family. The rest I can do without, but I won't let THAT be consumed by this fire.

The portrait takes me a bit longer than expected to find, and by the time I finally find it, the room is almost completely on fire. I put the picture inside one of my pockets before running out as fast as I can, dodging flames left and right. I abandon the building only a few seconds before it collapses.

Everyone's waiting for me near the building. I'm flattered. My sister approaches and suddenly hugs me, leaving me standing awkwardly with no idea of how I should react.

-Ev, what did you just do?

-I had to search for some of my stuff.

-Don't ever do that again, will you? I can understand if you risk your life trying to defend someone else, but running right inside the flaming building... that was suicidal.

-Fine, fine, I promise I won't ever risk my life like that again. - Only after those words she lets me go. - How's everyone?

-Apparently most people are safe and sound.

That's a relief. Definitely the first bit of good news I've heard in quite a while.

-Great. Anyone's come up with a plan?

-They were discussing going to another bunker from the days before the Aragami, but a) they don't know if it's not overrun, and b) the Anti-Aragami Wall there has a pretty old Bias which might not protect it against new incursions.

-Did you try telling them Aragami are the least of our concerns?

-No one bothers to pay me attention... not even after all that's happened.

-I'll manage this. Where are they deliberating? - She points to somewhere to my right. - Good.

* * *

Seven minutes and twenty nine seconds later, the entire group begins heading towards the bunker.

-That was pretty fast, Ev.

-I know my way around here, Mary.

As we walk towards the bunker, I begin to think of the recent events. Some things to think about, definitely.

For one, I have to admit that my sister's reaction when I left the base might make me reconsider my attitude towards her. Maybe I've been too harsh with her; maybe she really does regret the decisions she took that day, so long ago... Maybe. Maybe not, but maybe yes. Who knows.

However, something else troubles me more, and despite my best efforts to hide it, I can't ignore it, nor can I hide it from my sister. Not only will the path to the new base be long, longer than I'd like, but there's also the fact that most of the people here would be completely useless in case a fight sprung up. There are a few God Eaters, a dozen at most, but the amount of people we have to protect is insane: the group is composed by at least 300 people.

I just pray that we have a safe journey... God knows that we're not going to fare well if a fight ensues.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:** I can't begin to say how sorry I am for not posting this way earlier. I had it almost ready like two weeks ago, but between my final exams and a trip I made, I simply didn't have the time to edit this into a reasonably coherent chapter. I promise I will make up for this.

I'll be posting another chapter before next Monday and I'll try to get my lazy ass into writing another couple of chapters for next week.

* * *

All Branches have several emergency bases, which are obviously rather useful should anything happen to the larger ones, and our own Branch is no exception. While this situation we've found ourselves in was not something the builders had in mind when making them, I hardly think that our base catching on fire which turns people to daemons as they touch it doesn't warrant a little bit of precaution.

As we make our way to the nearest of the backup bases (roughly ten hours away), I notice Mary keeps directing odd looks at me. Eventually, I grow tired of that look and just speak to her.

-What is it?

-Huh?

-Don't take me for an idiot, Mary. I've noticed that you've been looking at me every other minute. What is it?

-Alright, alright. It's two things, actually. First off, what were you thinking when you ran inside the flaming base? And second, what is that thing in your arm, anyway? If you risked your life for it, it ought to be useful.

-There were a couple of things I wanted to pick up. One of them was the bracelet, in fact. As for what it does... let me show you.

Showing her is probably faster than explaining it, anyway. With a very specific movement of my arm, the armlet's mechanisms suddenly come to life and in an eye blink a small oval shield deploys.

-Neat. Though it seems of limited utility against Aragami...

-It's more useful than you'd think. And now that we are facing man-sized enemies... well, there's a reason I picked it up, you know?

-Yes, I never doubted that y-

-Good, then let's keep walking.

* * *

A good while passes before we spot the first one.

A few seconds before anything can be noticed, I feel the cacophony of voices that is the insects' hive mind speaking yet again. A disorganized mess of sounds, but there's clearly some urgency in them, enough to make me adopt a defensive stance. A few seconds later, I see a lone Marine standing in the distance, its red armor reflecting what little light can be seen coming from the sun in the horizon. Something resembling an axe is firm in his grasp. As soon as we spot it, I know he has spotted us as well. However, the strange Marine does not only not take cover against a superior force, but in fact charges right towards us. Several Old Type gunners and New Types shoot at it, but it's all in vain: it's either impervious to ranged weapons, or it's so derangedly insane it won't react to bullets alone.

As soon as it arrives, it strikes a woman with so much strength her upper body literally explodes. I see several people stopping whatever they're doing and throwing up right where they are.

-BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! - the thing shouts.

I run up to the man-shaped abomination and use all the speed and impulse to jump towards it and stab my Arc deep into its midsection, and when it's done I kick it with as much strength as possible, so as to get as far away as possible. Unfortunately, my sword gets stuck in its armor. As soon as I fall, I look at the monster. However, all I'm greeted with is a laugh as it punches a nearby God Eater, who barely manages to block the strike and is knocked back several meters.

I see Mary running up to it and striking it hard enough to all but obliterate its left arm. However, the thing barely reacts to the strike, and instead uses its axe to slash at her. The weapon passes a few centimeters away from her face as she leans back to dodge the attack. However, the berserk slashes again, opening a deep gash in her forearm. A jet of blood flies away as she stumbles backwards.

I shout to the nearest God Eater to give me some covering fire, and while it is distracted I run up to the armored man again, eventually jumping and grabbing my sword then twisting it in order to deepen the wound. Then I pull it outwards in an arc, causing major damage to its midsection - or so I hope. For good measure, I kick the bastard in the face as I fall. For the first time in the day, it staggers.

However, the bastard still stands, weakened but alive and kicking. I can't help but vocally complain.

-Oh come on! Won't you just die already? - On second thought, he might just feel no pain.

The red Marine doesn't answer, unless a growl followed by some unidentifiable noises counts as answering.

It slashes at me, but I dodge the strike with relative ease, the blade passing a bit more than 30 centimeters above me. The next strike comes faster, and I find it harder to dodge, only managing to do so it jumping; the third slash I cannot dodge, and instead I deploy my arm shield to block it. The serrated axe strikes the black metal with a loud, clanging noise, and I use the instant he stands still to push the weapon aside, knocking it off its arm.

I capitalize on the opening by stabbing it once again in the chest, and then I hit it in the head with my arm shield. The thing falls dead where it stands, allowing all of us to breathe.

-What happened to the fire support? And what about someone distracting him in close quarters, for that matter?

My question is met with nothing but a very awkward silence. I sigh and pick up my weapon from the remnants of the insane Marine and then I go to check on Mary, but not before stabbing the Marine an extra couple of times, for good measure.

Mary seems to suffer no pain, even though her forearm has a nasty wound and is quite literally covered in blood. The attack must have severed a nerve or something, because I'm sure that **should** hurt. A lot. We should take her to a doctor or something.

-Oh, hey Ev.

-Mary, what's going on? Shouldn't you scream in pain or something?

-I don't know. I don't feel anything other than a slight warm tingling. Even though I know there's something wrong.

-Pffft. You don't say...

-We'd better get to the base ASAP. Every second another bit of blood flows away, and I believe the axe cut deep enough that I'll bleed out if we take too long.

-Can't you do something? Say, apply a tourniquet, maybe?

-I've tried. It appears that applying pressure only increases the speed of the bleeding.

-Well then, let's get moving. I don't want to carry your corpse around till we get there.

We have to wait a minute so the woman who was pulverised -or rather, whatever meager remnants of her there are scattered around the point of impact- can be given a proper burial. A foolish thing to do, really, seeing as how we are in the middle of a trip across an open field where Aragami, insects or Marines could attack us, but I'm not the one calling the shots here. When the burial ends and no one moves, I decide to take control of the situation.

-Alright, what are you waiting for? Let's move.

-We want to show our respect to the deceased. - A man says. - She was my sister.

-Unless you're _really_ looking forward to join her once again, I suggest you show your respect while we make our way to the base. It's not as though she'll blame you for trying to survive. - I can say without a doubt that he's trying really hard to find a counter to my argument, but he's not quite succesful. He simply grunts and begins to move, and soon the rest of our group follows suit.

The trip follows flawlessly, though upon arrival we find out there's a slight problem.

The base is already occupied (some people from other bases must have beaten us to it), though at least it's occupied by actual people and not by a host of insane daemons. Or a band of fanatical Marines. Or huge-ass insects with a taste for human insides. Or... well, let's just say there are plenty of things that could be in here and screw our life.

But that doesn't change the fact that the people in here aren't exactly desperate to let us in.

-You can't pass! We are already at full capacity.

-What? - The words take me by surprise. I'd taken for granted we would be welcome... guess I was wrong.

-You can't pass.

I stop to think for a second, to find a way to convince him. In the end I come up with nothing, and so I take the most... direct approach. Which consists of simply throwing him out of the way.

-You can't be serious.

-You think I get my kicks out of letting people out of here? I hate it, but it's my orders. And we are already beyond our full capacity.

I am beginning to think the universe is actively trying to screw me over and make me lose control. If so, it's being rather succesful.

-Alright, now listen up, you jackass. I don't give a damn about your orders. Now, will you let me pass?

-You'll have to go through me. - He says, trying to cover the entrance with his body. I can't help but laugh before throwing him away with my left hand.

-You thought you could actually stop a God Eater from entering? The people who can carry massive weapons like they're made of tissue paper? Enhanced strength is in the job description, genius.

-I... I'll give the alarm.

-Would you actually attack us because we're looking for shelter? Now, when we need to stick together more than ever, because of the daemonic incursions? - He remains silent. - I thought so.

With the group, I enter into a base which is remarkably empty for a facility working "beyond full capacity". I look at my sister, who's looking like she could lie down and die right where she stands.

-Mary, why don't you ask where the medical facilities are? I'll take care of the rest. - She nods in agreement.

I walk up to the nearest person - a woman who's looking at us with an expression ranging between puzzled and alarmed - and ask her where the person in charge is.

-Take the elevator. Fifth floor, the door at the end of the hallway. Can't miss it.

I practically throw myself inside the elevator and hit the button with the big red "5".

* * *

-I've said it before and I'll say it again, we can't take anyone else. I don't like it, but this simply wasn't made for this much people.

-I DON'T CARE! WE AREN'T LEAVING!

-Don't raise your voice tone, please. I have a rather bad headache at the moment.

-Then don't send us to our deaths for no reason at all!

I don't care how much people are there in here, there's clearly room for more. And this guy's attitude just isn't helping.

-Can't I convince you of something? Anything?

-Propose something and I'll evaluate your idea.

He can't even be assed into thinking about possible solutions. What a great man.

-I don't know... take the normal people in and have all God Eaters patrol the area and rest outside? - It's ridiculous that I have to even think of this, but anything's better than all the normal people roaming around outside with nothing to do other than fall prey to whatever spots them first.

-Your idea sounds... decent. I will take it into consideration. Meanwhile, you can all rest outside.

-That. Won't. Happen. The rest of the group is staying in. I'll stay and guard, if necesary.

-Very well. But I must ask: what drives you to do this?

-Have you ever heard of the term "solidarity"?

-Don't mock me, please. There's no need to.

-Then don't be such an unlikeable heap of crap.

I storm out of the office. Perhaps a night outside isn't such a bad prospect after all: it will definitely help me to chill.

* * *

The night is cold, though I don't find it particularly annoying. I imagine things inside are tense; I welcome the fact that I needn't be there, and I can get by another while before having to rest. However, my calm guard night is interrupted by an odd noise in the distance. The noise grows stronger by the minute. Almost instantly an alarm goes off, and I begrudgingly stand up, my weapon readied against anything.

Then the door opens, and several God Eaters come out.

-What is it? - I ask.

-A big red thing looking extremely angry is coming. -How reconfortating.

It isn't long before the daemon arrives.

It is a human shaped monstrosity of titanic proportions, with large wings and hooved feet, carrying a powerful-looking axe in one hand and a barbed whip in the other. The red skin is barely visible, covered in a grey metallic armor covered in scratches. Its horns (which protrude forwards from below its jaw) are so thick that they almost hide the being's nigh-canine face.

I can't help but wonder: could this day possibly get any worse?


	11. Chapter 10

This sure doesn't look bad or anything...

Just me and four other God Eaters against a twelve meter tall musclebound daemon who looks like it'd giddily feast on our entrails. Odds are **totally** stacked in our favor here, there's no two ways about it.

Well, I suppose things like this tend to happen when your world falls victim to a daemonic invasion. Complaining about it won't make the daemon magically disappear or anything, so all we can do is ready ourselves and hope for the best.

The daemon roars and I can almost see the spirits of my companions dropping to the ground - they're batshit terrified of the monster, and I can't really blame them. The roar sounds like a noise brought out from the worst nightmares a human being could possibly have, a hellish noise that reeks of hatred and pure, unbridled anger. Things like this daemon weren't meant for mortal men to see, let alone fight.

The beast decides to cut the nearest God Eater to ribbons, and strikes out with its huge axe against the poor woman, who is barely able to dodge the huge weapon. The attack leaves a deep gash in the ground, a black wound that seems like it won't heal for a while.

The woman changes her Arc to ranged mode and unloads a blast of bullets on the creature with her Assault Gun, causing it to cover its face with its hand in pain. Seeing how the attack works, I swap my Arc to Gun in order to shoot the monster as well. My bullets aren't as effective at pinning it down, but they seem to do more damage to the creature; quite fitting for a Blast Gun.

The rest of the group soon join the strategy, and in no time the monster finds itself unable to move, its body being constantly hit by an unending barrage of bullets.

However, one by one our Oracle reserves are exhausted. Only after my reserve ends I realize that, unless I have some Oracle pills, I am forced to go and get into the fray, since my OP reserves won't fill up slashing something that's not an Aragami. With a sigh and a not-so-happy thought, I deploy my off hand shield and charge against the creature, jumping to get a good shot at its face.

The daemon reacts with unholy speed, and my attack gets turned into nothing as I am forced to block a strike from an axe with an edge longer than I am tall. My hand shield begins to spark on contact, but is unharmed. I, on the other hand, am sent flying a good twenty meters away, though at least I manage to land on my feet, a bit shaky but still healthy.

While the woman with the Assault Gun keeps on with her endless hail of shots, the rest of the God Eaters (lacking the access to blank bullets) are forced to go into melee combat, where the beast's huge strength gives it a large advantage over us.

Just another day of work, I guess? Usual stuff.

One by one the God Eaters gather courage and attack the monster, only to be repelled by its lightning fast strikes and either receive pretty nasty-looking wounds or get sent flying a large distance away. I wait until I have an opportunity: when one of the others goes for a frontal attack, I walk in for a backstab.

Just as the monster begins to move for an attack, so do I. I jump as high as my body can handle, and as soon as I can confirm no attack is coming, I slash the warped creature in the back, in an area where there is no armor and the daemonic red flesh is out in the open.

The attack opens a large wound and causes the hellspawn to bend over in pain, allowing me another chance for an attack, this time aimed at its right leg. The attack isn't nearly as strong as I'd intended it to be, and it also hits pretty far from where I aimed it at, but it's still strong enough to provoke a roar of pain. The creature turns over surprisingly fast and delivers me a brutal kick with its right leg.

The impact sends me flying through the air yet again. Though normally I'd be annoyed at this, right now the pain demands too much of my mind to allow room for anything else. Only through sheer willpower I remain conscious; as much as a while out of combat might tempt me, it's not sensible to do so when a daemon six or sven times as high as I am merrily roams around slaughtering any oposition.

Holding on to my God Arc, I stand up, with some difficulty at first. As soon as I manage to focus on something other than "ohmygodithurts", I turn my head to the ongoing battle. Some of my colleagues are swarming around the beast, occasionally landing a strike or two, but one of them is lying in the floor and the other's nowhere to be found. Whether the former is dead or unconscious, I can't tell from this distance.

I approach the battle stealthily, not willing to draw the ire of the red behemoth yet, and check my fallen squadmate's status. He's unconscious, and a good Link-Aid might get him back in the battle. Assuming I somehow manage to patch him up first, that is. His entire right side is a scrambled mess of bleeding tissue and dying flesh; the damned axe must have sinked pretty deep. I don't believe there's anything I can do to heal that. Restore Pills aren't fit for such a large wound, and my medical supplies aren't enough. Maybe if one of the others happens to be a Medic...

No, his wounds are too serious. He will bleed out before I can get him any help, and not only will anything I might do prove to be useless, but even if one of the others is a Medic the hellish beast won't give us enough time for any serious healing, the kind of which this guy desperately needs. As much as it pains me, the man is as good as dead right now. I must return to the fight, unless I want another Eater to suffer this fate as well.

The monster spots me from a mile away, and it drops what it's doing for a split second in order to direct me a glance full of hatred and burning rage. Well, now I made a ridiculously large daemon my mortal enemy. Brilliant. Great work, Evelyn. Absolutely goddamn great.

The daemon's glance was enough of an opening for one of the other God Eaters to slash it across the face, but while he caused a lot of damage, I wouldn't quite call him lucky: the monster catches him with one of its hands before he hits the ground, and even from my place I can hear a dreadful crunching noise as the man is crushed to death. The daemon raises its hand, the corpse still in its grip, and positions it so that the dripping blood falls straight into its mouth.

I only just barely manage to keep myself from throwing up, for the sight and the added sound of crushed bones and organs leaking body fluids isn't exactly a pleasant thing to behold. The remaining God Eater is the one with the Assault Bullet, and she's seemingly smart enough to keep herself well away from the monster. However, the daemon plans otherwise, and it begins to use its large wings to close the distance faster.

Without thinking too much on what I'm doing, I wait until the monstrosity is nearby, then I jump as high as I can towards it in a last-second attempt to save my last partner. The daemon swings its axe, but for the first time in the day it misses without any actual attempt do dodge on my part, and I crash against its ridiculously hard armor, Tower Shield first. The impact throws the beast off balance, and its flight is interrupted as it plummets into the ground. I manage to roll when I hit the ground, diminishing the strength of the impact. The red giant isn't so lucky, and it crashes into the ground head first.

Unfortunately, I don't hear the bone-crunching noise I waited, and sure enough the daemon is standing up in no time. The beast is dizzy, sure, but it can stand up all too well, and I feel disheartened. Does nothing hurt this bastard?

I decide to do an all or nothing attack, and I jump towards the daemon, who can only barely react with a sloppy swing of its axe that misses me by a huge margin. I reach its stomach and firmly stab it with the Arc, then I stand up on the Arc and jump up to its shoulder. The beast drops the axe and tries to grab me, but I jump to dodge and reach the head. There, I see the perfect target for a kick: its eyes. I jump again and fall so that my legs both fall within the eye itself.

I hear a sickening splash kind of sound as my attack hits fully and the lower half of my body goes inside the red flesh of the titanic monster. I have to use my arms to get out of the eyesocket. I fall to the ground, and with unintended dramatic flair the daemon falls right behind me.

After rising up, I spot a hole I didn't remember seeing before. I go to inspect and there I find my missing comrade. Or what's left of her. She's been smashed into the ground, inside a rather deep hole, and half her body has... almost literally exploded. Her lower half has turned into nothing but a red mess.

I stand up and for the second time in a while try no to throw up at the beautiful sights I'm presented with.

-You know, just look at the bright side. We won! - The other God Eater exclaims, her voice betraying her emotion for not having to fight any more.

-Sure looks like it, doesn't it? I would rather make sure, though. With the amount of punishment the bastard's shrugged off so far...

I walk to the daemon's thorax and pull my Arc out of the belly . It's become stuck, though, and I have to pull with all my strength, planting one of my feet on the daemon, to even budge it a bit. In the twelfth or so push I finally get it out, though I fall right on my back due to the sudden imbalance.

I then walk up to the head and prepare myself to stab it. I am suddenly interrupted by a huge hand grabbing me whole and slamming me against the ground, leaving me edging unconsciousness. I can just barely see the other God Eater trying to fight the daemon, but the ensuing fight is cut short by the daemon simply flying away.

I have just enough time to grab on tight to my God Arc and hope it comes with me, because if I have the luck to wake up out of this one I'm damn sure I'll need it more than ever before.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know, I know, it's been a hell of a lot of time. Sorry. I won't make any promises, because it's become painfully apparent I can't fulfill them. I'll just say that I'll try to upload more often from now on.

And if you're wondering how can 5 God Eaters hold their own against a Bloodthirster... while Bloodthirsters are generally agreed to be terrifically strong opponents, the strength of different Daemons varies wildly: even high ranking Daemons are jokes in the lore some times, while others who shouldn't be too different are however impossibly badass. With that in mind, a Bloodthirster going mano-a-mano against some rivals he never thought even existed taking a while to beat them isn't so far-fetched, and he still handed them their asses... eventually.


	12. Chapter 11 (kinda misleading, eh?)

**A/N:** I should _really_ post more often. Sorry.

* * *

I wake up with a terrible headache and unable to see anything beyond a pile of half rotten corpses a couple of meters away from me. However, I am still alive, and should be thankful for that.

However, truth dawns on me that I am yet fully unaware of where I am, not to mention that I'm unarmed and barely conscious on a daemon's lair. Not the kind of place one would want to wake up after a battle, or wake up any time at all, or... well, let's just say it's not exactly what most would call a vacation spot.

I am intrigued, however, as to the reason I'm still alive. Now, I'm no daemon expert or anything, but I'd assumed I was done for. I mean, when a giant bloodthirsty daemon who loves to kill stuff grabs you and puts you out of combat, you're not expecting anything better than a quick death. And yet here I am, alive against all odds. I wonder if the daemon has something special prepared for me...

* * *

The Librarian was suddenly separated from the so-called "diary" when the ship suddenly stopped moving across the Warp. As far as he could perceive with a thought, the ship had completely ceased moving, though it could very well be that the ship had begun to move in some of the dozens of dimensions his mind couldn't decipher. After all, even for the most powerful of psykers the Warp in its entirety was something utterly alien and incomprehensible. Only thanks to the God Emperor's guidance through the Astronomican did Warp travels have some chance of reaching their destination.

However, that did not mean that the Librarian would just sit down and resume reading. It was a very real possibility that a powerful daemon had boarded the ship in hopes of using it as a way to leave the Warp and enter realspace. Not the most likely of situations, but the Librarian had long ago learned that always being ready for the worst was actually something good for him, and more often than not ended up saving his life.

He readied his weapons, both physical and mental, though he was well aware that using too much psychic powers meant risking the chance of summoning other daemons to their position.

He then contacted the command bridge of the ship. Battle Brother Andrios answered his call.

-Yes, Librarian? What is the situation?

-I was about to ask you the same, Andrios. Any information so as to what caused our ship to apparently cease all movement?

-Well, the cause seems to be mixed. On the one hand, astropaths report that we've begun moving in other directions. However, they've also warned us that they felt some daemonic entities have infiltrated our ship as well, one of which they reported to be unlike any other they've felt before.

-Very well, Andrios. I shall take part of the hunting squadron. I at least want most of these pests eliminated before the crew resumes normal activities, and even then I want the rest of the squadron to go on with the hunt.

-Yes, sir.

Most of the daemons were disposed of with relative ease. Even in the Warp, Bloodletters still kept their inability to handle heavy weapons firing on them from several different directions, and were thusly taken care of without any major incident. One Battle Brother received a serious cut on his left arm, but he carried on until the Librarian ordered him to go to the infirmary.

The strange signal that the astropaths had spoken of had all but vanish, and even after a thorough examination from the Librarian he couldn't find even the slightest clue of anything hinting at a daemon's presence.

With an uneasy feeling, he ordered the squadron to thoroughly scan the entire ship once more, and to immediately report both to him and to the command bridge if they saw anything unusual. Afterwards, he returned to the library and resumed his book.

* * *

It is as though the daemon tries to break me by lurking somewhere out of my line of sight. Considering I can barely move without suffering from immense pain through my entire body, I believe he hit me repeatedly while I was KO'd and is now enjoying itself with the prospect of murdering me, wondering what's the slowest and most painful way to kill me. Well, I can kiss my sorry ass goodbye. But I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of going down like a sacrificial lamb.

At the risk of suffering so much pain my body will give up and faint, I slowly stand up and look around me. I stand in the middle of a huge plain area,with derelict building ruins, the occasional vehicle wreck and obviously some human remains in various stages of decomposition, as it can be expected from a violent daemon's lair. Not to mention, there's also a red shade looming over everything, as if the very air had been contaminated with blood.

So much for a nice place to die.

After a few minutes of looking around and not seeing the daemon, I remember I had some restore pills on my pocket and giddily munch on them. Useful, though I wouldn't quite say I'm good for a rematch. If anything, I'm good for two months of paid vacations. I rummage my other pockets in hopes of finding some more, but no use. Eventually, I grow tired, almost certain that the daemon stays just out of sight for the sole reason of messing with me, and I begin to scream to it.

-WHERE ARE YOU?! SHOW YOURSELF! - However, it's as though the daemon does not listen to me. No response. Maybe insults will make it come out... Following on that line of thought, I begin to shout obscenities, in an attempt to bring the daemon to me and finish this. I know, classy. But even still, there's no answer to my calls, even though they're some of the most colorful insults I've ever said.

However, when I get tired and begin to shout less creative insults, I finally utter one word that seemingly gets to the daemon.

-Coward... - Now, when I say "Seemingly gets to the daemon", I mean it as in "it appears out of nowhere, roars and grabs me so forcefully it begins to choke me". Not quite the reaction I was aiming for...

I see my God Arc hanging from the beast's belt... maybe there's a chance I can reach it...

The daemon does not speak, but the fury in its eyes is clear. Maybe taunting him even further... Welp, it's not as though there's anything else to do. It's this or dying choked on my own blood, so I might as well try.

-Yes, I called you coward! Didn't have the guts to kill me, did you? Instead you let me here to die, stupid beast.

The beast won't answer me, nor will it drop me. In fact, I feel the pressure on my neck increasing...

-Let me go...! Stupid beast, I know you... you understand me! Or are you... afraid of me?

The beast then suddenly drops me to the ground and with a glance filled to the brim with hatred throws me my weapon. I guess it's not as mindless as I thought.

Well, I guess I'll now die by being cleanly cut in half rather than die by choking. Oh well, at least there's one last chance. I know I can't stand against this one for too long, but no way in hell am I gonna go without a fight.

At that very moment, something in my mind feels... odd. Almost as if someone called me.

Not that it matters, really. They do say your whole live goes by in front of you when you know you're about to die, so a few voices in my head are probably nothing to go crazy about.

Huh, who'd have thought that even in the current situation I could spare a laugh for an accidental pun?

The daemon starts with a movement of its axe so sudden it almost cuts my head off. I crouch below the weapon and slash with my own in retaliation, but the monster deftly avoids my strike and counters with a kick which forces me to roll to the side to attack. As the roll ends, the daemon slashes where it thinks I'll stop moving, but I kick the ground and avoid the axe entirely, which is now stuck in a rocky formation. Since I'm too far away from the daemon's body, I instead target its hand and slash at it, but the daemon pulls it before my blade meets its flesh and instead I hit the handle of its weapon.

To my surprise, my Arc cuts the axe cleanly in two, reducing the length of the shaft to about half of what it used to be. The daemon looks at me with even more hatred than before (which, if I think about it, is an accomplishment in and of itself) and mindlessly charges at me. I wait until it is nearby and then jump out of the way while swinging my Arc towards the daemon, slashing it in the eye I'd harmed before. However, the beast's momentum is too great for me to stop it with a simple slash, and the blinded beast crashes against a hard rock wall. While carrying me with it.

Well, no one said fighting giant daemons was easy. I wasn't expecting to walk out alive out of this anyway, so a few more wounds aren't a big concern.

I rise before the daemon does, though I need to lean on my Arc to do so. The beast rises up and emits a deafening roar before turning towards me. It slowly walks up to its axe before picking it up and throwing it in my direction. I am catched off-guard by the random move and can only barely deploy my Tower Shield to avoid being hit before the massive axe sinks itself in the ground a few meters before me. It was a feint...

The daemon grabs me with monstrous speed, and makes certain that my weapon arm is firm under its grip. It then lifts me up to its mouth level, all the while I struggle to get free, and opens its gigantic mouth. I get close enough to see saliva and some pieces of half-rotten meat. In a last ditch effort to avoid being devoured alive, I deploy my small arm shield and I hit the daemon in the head with it before it swallows me whole.

The daemon relents and drops me to the ground. It then spits something out of its mouth... oh, it's a fang. I don't even have to look at the daemon to know it's even angrier than before... somehow.

I can't help but wonder... how much more can I piss this one off? Will its anger, like, hit a maximum at some point, or will my continued attempts at staying alive keep angering it forevermore? I also can't help but wonder how do I even have time to ask myself this kind of things with a twelve meter daemon supremely angry and trying to gut me not twenty meters away.

-Yeah, no. I'm not getting eaten alive if I can help it.

Barely as I catch my breath, the daemon moves, and before I realize we're at each other's throat.


	13. Chapter 12

The daemon's strength cannot be understated: while I suspect that even the lowliest amongst their ranks are fearsome opponents, this one I'm fighting against is clearly a creature of tremendous power and similar malice. Its only purpose is spreading death and spilling blood; for what reason, I ignore.

Right now, I managed to fend it off for a while, cutting off a finger from its right hand. But this situation cannot last, and I find myself more and more unable to overcome the damned thing's defenses with every passing moment. It is only a matter of time before I collapse and die, either bleeding out from my current wounds or from a single, decisive strike.

Not that it matters, because I knew from the get go that facing some daemon ten times my size was not going to do my life expectancy any good... but being aware of that does not make the feeling of impending doom go away. That being said, I'd like to at least take him with me, but considering the current situation that's hardly going to be a walk in the park.

Only an external intervention could save me now... weird how now I'd kill to see an Aragami showing up, how such a thing could potentially _save my life_. It is an odd situation, the one I'm in, and not so long ago I would have deemed the thought absurd.

Though truth be told, the idea that we'd get daemons appearing out of thin air would have felt even more absurd, and... well, look at where I'm now.

The daemon's here again... off to another round we go. Great odds in my favour.

Before I can quite reach the beast, though, a thought flashes in my mind... a thought of the aliens that first appeared and kicked the Aragami's asses. If I got a bit of one of them in me, could I not call them in my aid? It would certainly help to have another thing for the blasted daemon to targe- you know what, fuck that. How do I know I can do it? Assuming I can do it, how do I know it will focus on the daemon? The idea has more holes than... that cheese with a lot of holes. Yeah.

So it's back to square one here. Counting on outside help when I'm totally incommunicated is out of the question, and the one chance I _might_ have is perhaps best left untouched, for even if it worked (already a long shot) it could turn out to be a double edged sword. Or perhaps it's a simple run-of-the-mill sword, but one stabbed right through my gut.

... I was never one for analogies, honestly.

* * *

After what feels like an eternity, we're still at it. Slash, dodge, strike, block, rinse and repeat ad nauseam. Incredibly, the beast is (seemingly - I'm no daemon specialist) beginning to tire as well, but that is little comfort: the sheer exhaustion that I feel is... undescribable. Only some base instinct keeps me going, only the sheer stubbornness of refusing to give up, lie down and accept death.

But only spirit does not win out against sheer strength. Eventually, the daemon prevails, and with one fell swing tears my God Arc away from my hand, sending it flying elsewhere. Despair finally gets the better of me, since this weapon's been with me through practically everything, and even though a failure was to be expected, it didn't make the loss any less shattering.

The daemon then gleefully proceeds to walk towards me in a deliberately slow gait, as if planning to torture me even more.

However, its advance is cut short as a bolt of lightning falls over it.

At the same time, a woman's voice in my mind I cannot for the life of me identify screams "Run, you fool! You are outmatched and have no chance!"

As one would expect, I am suddenly freaked out by the recent developments, and rather than run I stay still, confused as to why someone suddenly requires me. Another bolt of lightning falls in the area, this time much closer to me.

"Next one will be aimed to your position if you don't move! Now run, you are no use to me-to _anyone_ if you're dead!"

That last phrase gets me on my toes. What about the people who might need me? Regardless of who this...being I'm talking to is, I've got a lot more to offer to others alive than if I'm dead. Stupidly obvious realization once you get there, but with the mind in the battle one hardly thinks of matters such as that.

I run up to my God Arc's damaged remnants, and while the weapon feels less... lively than it normally does, there's still a familiar presence in it. The daemon approaches again, this time running at full speed. I only have a few seconds to think of a potential solution before I have to fight again... and in my current state (tired and with a broken weapon) I'm not willing to bet on my chances of surviving.

I need to fend it off... right now. But how? I am in a dire lack of OP for bullets, and my sword just lost a metric shitton of effectiveness.

"Just RUN, damn mon'keigh! It's what you should have done in the first place."

I decide to run away as fast as I can, heeding no mind to the horrendous pain brought about by every step. However, the daemon is much faster than I am, and is soon right behind me. The voice in my mind suddenly shouts with such intensity that it physically hurts me.

" _STAB IT IN THE EYE!_ "

I try my hardest to do it, I really do, but the stress of battle catches up to me and what I end up doing resembles more a pitiful attempt to leave the ground rather than the huge leap my body'd otherwise perform. I collapse on the floor, unable to move, and as the daemon's axe comes over me, I close my eyes while, with an absolutely inhuman effort and a pain that I wouldn't wish unto my worst enemy, my hand makes a last effort to rise the blade and block the strike.

However, the blow never comes. As the seconds pass, I open my eye warily, only to find myself with the daemonic weapon a hair's width away from my weapon. But it's perfectly, unnaturally still, as if it had sudden transformed into an inanimate statue. And yet... the power that emanates from it, the sheer, boundless fury is still burning in there.

However, as I find myself thinking about this, a realization comes into my mind. A realization that, I shudder, has no way of actually happening; a realization of knowledge that _I should have no way of knowing_... and yet it's there all the same. This daemon serves a god. And its behavior, its cowardice, has upset the god. I need only swear myself to him, and I will be saved from this.

Of course, having even a bit of a working brain means that swearing myself to a daemon god is not exactly the brightest idea in the world. Bad shit comes after deals with daemons, or so the saying goes... But then, it's either that or dying right here and now, so I hardly think that's an alternative.

* * *

-Consorting with daemons.

The Librarian disapprovingly shook his head. This was an unexpected turn of events, and certainly not one he'd have expected.

* * *

At a moment's notice, the daemon is reeling backwards, an impressive wound adorning its side. The daemon bleeds something that's not quite blood... and it all goes directly into my blade, morphing into what can only be described as a jagged piece of spiked metal in the shape of an axe. All the while, the daemon slowly fades into nothingness.

How lovely.

But mere moments after I grab the weapon and ready myself to depart, a bolt of lightning falls a few meters ahead of me, briefly blinding me, and by the time I open my eyes, a not-quite-human figure stands there. It speaks with a woman's tone.

-Mon'keigh, you and I need to talk. Now.

* * *

A/N: Things are getting interesting! Or not. I don't know.

As for the elephant in the room... I'm not even gonna make any statements regarding posting schedules this time. Time's proven again and again that I can't keep up with a schedule, no matter how lax it is. So yeah, update at random, long-ass intervals it is. Not what I'd've settled for, but it (sadly) seems it's the only thing I can do.


	14. Chapter 13

The librarian couldn't help but think that the story was reaching an interesting point, even if the actions the narrator takes part in recently took a turn for the heretical. It was a most curious text, and with the interactions with the xenos and heretics perhaps he'd be able to acquire some knowledge that might result useful in a future fight. That was, of course, his official reason to read the thing in the first place, but whether or not it was the true reason he was doing it... he would not say.

* * *

On a more detailed inspection, the alien who spoke has the basic appearance of a woman, though she is both taller and slimmer than any woman I've ever met - she's probably got a good head over me. Her skin is pale, her hair is black and her eyes are an odd shade of blue, resembling two shards of ice. She wears a simple robe, black and bleached bone in color, and in her chest lies a large, blue stone.

The newly arrived (female?) alien looks at me with an unreadable expression. Maybe she's waiting for me to follow her? Well, no. After all that's happened thus far, I'm not about to follow just about anyone I don't know, even if they're an alien. **Especially** if they're an alien.

-Do pardon my language, but, uh... who the hell are you? - Does she even speak English.

-We don't have time for this kind of discussion! - She suddenly screams. Well, she obviously does understand my language. - You've proven hard enough to find already, and every moment wasted brings us all closer to doom.

-Well, forgive me if I'm not going to follow a random woman who shows up in front of me all of a sudden, for god's sake! - Assuming "she" is, well, a she. - You're going to have to tell me something else if you want me to hear you out.

She sighs and speaks (curses?) in some weird language before speaking again.

-I am Neilwe, member of the Seer Council of Ulthwé the Damned.

Well... that doesn't really tell me anything.

-Let's dial back a wee bit, ok? How about you start by telling me your species and origin; I figure that's as good a starting point as any.

-It had to be an undeveloped mon'keigh world, right? - Neilwe takes a deep breath. - I am an Eldar, a species far older than your own, old enough to be a galaxy-spanning empire long before your kind had what it took to be able to leave your planet.

Ok, that's a statement and a half. Galaxy-spanning empire? My kind leaving my planet? What the heck is going on here? Did I pass out for, like, forty thousand years or something?

-Wait wait, what? We haven't left our planet yet.

-You are probably part of a colony that lost access to space travel long ago. - She says, dismissing my point entirely. - Do not dwell on that, for it matters not. What concerns us now is that we need to stop this daemonic invasion.

-Haha, sure, wait till I get my hands on some daemon-killing bugspray. I have a lifetime supply of those.

-If we do not stop it - she proceeds, pointedly ignoring my comment -, it will head for my Craf- for my world next. And I simply cannot allow that to happen; my species is too endangered as it is to allow itself the loss of so many. And in my visions, you were the one who'd stop it.

Woah woah woah woah woah. Slow down. Did she just say that I am the one who'll stop all this? Because I think she did.

-You can't be serious...

-I don't do jokes, mon'keigh, as you may have realized. I am being... what was that figure of speech your kind used? Right, dead serious. **You** are going to stop this... somehow. And **I** will make certain of it. Time grows ever-shorter, and while members of our species don't normally get along well (and that's putting it mildly), I expect us both to put that aside for a moment and work towards a common goal. I believe my battle prowess will also go a long way towards making coexistence peaceful.

Emphasis on the " _somehow_ " bit. Cause yeah, a big ass prophecy states I'll save two worlds with a fucking axe. I wonder if I could even consider that to be luck somehow. I mean, not everyone can save a world with an axe. But then again, not everyone can do a deal with a daemon god that will have unknown future consequences.

-Ok, I'll help you. It's not as though I planned to sit idly during a daemon invasion, merrily waiting for some daemon to come along with their oversized axe and murder me.

-You'd be lucky if a daemon just wanted to murder you. - She says, her expression completely serious. - Most would rather infect you with a plague and take you by their side, manipulate you and use you as a pawn in several different and contradictory schemes that would drive you insane if you knew anything about them, or just do whatever comes to their minds to you. Do let me clarify, I mean _absolutely **anything**_.

Well that's refreshing to hear. She's gonna have to tell me more about what the hell I can expect from these daemons if I'm supposed to have a chance to fight them all off.

-Duly noted. However, I have one condition if we're to work together. -She makes a gesture as if to speak, but I interrupt her. - If you want me to call you by your name, then you must call me by my name, Evelyn.

Unbelievably, she chuckles and smiles. A radiant smile, like geez, it's almost as if she worked in a toothpaste ad. It's... weird.

-I thought you'd want something more... difficult. Yes, I can do that.

-Well thank god. I hope you can tell me what we must do next? After all you mentioned you are capable of seeing the future and stuff.

-The future is a flicker thing, and visions of it are more often than not mere glimpses of what's to come. - She replies, in a serious yet calm tone. - Neither are my visions all-encompassing, nor is the entirety of the future set in stone. I'll have you know that, were it not the case, we'd already be on our path to our next goal, whatever it was.

-But didn't you want me to follow you?

-You misunderstood my intent. I may have commited a mistake; your language is more... reliant on verbal cues, I suppose, than my own. My intention was simply to communicate the situation to you, and I think I managed to convey the urgency of the situation pretty well.

-Well then, hoop-dee-fuckity-doo. What are we doing, then?

-You're the one who's going to save the world according to prophecy; - she shrugs, but the gesture feels forced - why don't you decide?

-I'd go back to the nearest human settlement and ask where exactly I am, and then figure out how to return to where my people are. Can you help out with tha-

My words are cut as a daemon appears suddenly about ten meters away from me. It is one of the smaller ones, like the one I fought back when the Branch was on fire. I'm tempted to give my newfound weapon a whirl, thinking to myself that if I paid a steep price to get it (I'm not fooling myself - deals with daemons never end right... probably?) then I might as well use it, but Neilwe turns around and with but a gesture throws a lightning bolt out of her fingers, which then begins to separate into smaller bolts. In less than a second, all of them strike the daemon, and it vanishes in a puff of what seems to be red smoke. She then turns back to me.

-Sorry for the interruption. Yes, I do believe I can help in that regard.

Holy crap, I want to be able to do that.

-Don't be so surprised. - She comments. - You'll be seeing greater displays of power if you want to stop the invasion, and they will be directed _against_ you. I have my doubts regarding how you'll deal with whatever this disaster throws at you, but I believe in the prophecy, if not in you.

-Hey, I take offense to that!

-By your reaction to my psychic abilities, I would deduce that you have never seen a display of such powers. That speaks poorly of your capabilities, and of your knowledge of the enemy you'll be facing. - I open my mouth to protest, but she keeps going. - This is, nevertheless, an initial impression, since I just met you, and have no idea of your powers and abilities, whatever they might be. You might b- scratch that, you probably are a physical fighter, and there's no lack of honor in that. - For the record... I have to point out that I have a gigantic axe in my hand. - And the prophecy speaks of you, not me. That alone you should consider a great honor.

-Thank you... I suppose. So how abou-

-Hold on a second. - She interrupts, staring intently at my weapon. - The axe. Where'd you get it from?

-Why? What's wrong with it?

-It positively _exudes_ daemonic energy. How did such an artifact from the Ruinous Powers end up in your hands?

Ruinous Powers? That's an ominous-sounding name if I ever heard one. Next thing I know we're also going to face the powers that go by the moniker of "Evil McChildreneatin' Powers". Like, I get it, daemons aren't good. Couldn't they be just "Daemonic Powers"? I'd say that gets the point across pretty damn well withou- you kno, I'm going off topic. I've got a question to answer.

-Weeell... long story short, the daemon I was fighting mere moments ago ended up within my weapon. Deal with an evil entity or something... mayb- ehh, quite likely not the best choice I've ever made, but at least I am alive.

-I utterly forgot you were fighting. That might make things more problematic. - She stays silent for a second. - On the plus side, being a Khornate weapon it will excel at killing whatever stands in front of you. - Being a what now? - On the downside, sooner or later you won't care what stands in front of you and you'll attack indiscriminately.

-So, this means...

-This means we'll have to hurry up after finding your allies, because if you fall, not one but two worlds go down with you... not that that will make your eventual fall to madness anything less than certain.

* * *

A/N: *insert ominous music*

That forty thousand year comment was awful, but I couldn't help it. And surprise, I managed to post this (relatively) quickly! Cheers!

Probably that's because this is essentially a huge-ass dialogue. Yeah :/. I'll try and make the next chapter have some more action.


	15. Chapter 14

The librarian kept on reading. While the following pages could hardly be described as eventful, they contained an invaluable list of the most common types of enemies one could expect to find in a Chaos invasion and their strengths and weaknesses as the Eldar explained them to the narrator. While he decided to only skim through and note down the location for a better, more detailed reading later on, he read a fair amount of information unknown to him, information that would make the book worthy of a space in the Chapter's holy librarium by itself. It was evident that, even though he was among the most knowledgeable brothers regarding the subject, his vast knowledge paled in comparison to that of the Farseer. It was only natural, however, considering that as a natural of Ulthwe she likely had lived for thousands of years right next to the Eye of Terror.

* * *

-Well, so these... Daemon Princes you spoke of... they have no weakness in common with each other?

-No. As mortals turned into daemons, each looks and acts exactly how it wants to, and there is little common ground between any two of them. I fear that if you are to face one you will have to either find out its particular weakness and exploit them or simply overcome it through sheer power. However, they are either potent psykers or extremely resistant to psychic powers, each and every one of them, and simply defeating one in combat is quite an accomplishment.

-Correct. - There is little to say at the moment; this lesson requires me to shut up and listen.

-Remember, like most of the daemons I told you about, their weakness might not be something physical. You must be ever wary of them, and maybe discern what god they follow and with that goad them to fight you on your own terms. Lead them to an ambush, or to a place where you can stab them in the back without them being able to see you.

-But... won't the daemon in my axe refuse to fight other daemons?

-No. Quite the opposite, in fact. The reason for that is twofold: first, daemons fight between each other just as much as they do with mortals (if not more so, even), which is good news for every living thing outside the Warp; second, the daemon in your axe is incomprehensibly furious at being kept inside a weapon and will cheerfully welcome the opportunity to lash out against any target. That bloodlust will make your weapon strike with impossible strength and cleave enemies in half with ease, but as I said it will also get to you in due time.

-Is there absolutely nothing I can do to change that?

-Only dropping the weapon and forgetting about it will save you, though it will doom whoever picks it next. And daemon weapons usually find a way to get to a wielder. The weapon is cursed, and while it is possible to keep the weapon's daemon under control, it both requires setting up rare and powerful wards to keep it in check, and _also_ rids the weapon of any Warp-related power it might have had. I am not happy with including a daemon weapon in the equation, much less one with a Bloodthirster of all things bound inside it, but it is now something we'll have to deal with.

-Is the daemon inside the weapon that powerful?

-Well, let's put it this way... I am surprised you're still in control of yourself instead of trying to gut me while screaming the Blood God's deranged mantra. Does that answer your question, mon'keigh?

Damn.

-That's, uh... yeah. So, um, wha-

My question is suddenly interrupted by a tremendous earthquake hitting our position. While I have been through a couple of them, this one is much more potent, and I find it hard to keep my feet steady.

-Come over here! Quick! - Neilwe screams. She's a good thirty meters away from me now. Damn, she's fast.

-But...

-I said COME OVER! - She screams, as she draws out her hand in my direction and then does a pulling motion.

Suddenly, it feels as though I'm being tugged by a giant, and I'm sent flying in her direction, landing next to her feet.

-Hey, what the hell was that f-

As I am about to finish my question, a tremendous outburst of lava appears where I was standing a few seconds ago. The explosion sends a vertical outburst of lava which splatters all over the area, stopping only a scant few meters away from my position.

-Holy shit.

-It is worse than I thought. - My companion comments. - I fear that the process of turning into a daemon world has begun.

-A daemon world? Do clarify, if you will.

-Due to the lack of time, you'll have to do with a quick rundown: if this planet is swallowed by the warp, then all struggle we may present to the daemons is in vain. You, I, anyone you know and everyone on it are doomed. It'd either become the target for the Chaos Gods' struggle, with all of us caught in the crossfire, or worse, it would become a bastion of Chaos Undivided, in which case they would all target us.

-No pressure or anything.

-What did you say? - She asks. With her appearance, it's easy forget she's not, well, human. Even if she's freakishly tall and thin and has psychic powers and... stuff. So basically nothing like a human being, except... something.

-Just a figure of speech. Nothing you should worry about. So anyway, you were saying that essentially this thing you believe is beginning right now is something very bad that we should avoid at all costs, lest we all want to die a horrible, horrible death and have our souls become become the Chaos Gods' eternal playthings. - I don't know what's creepier: what I just said or the fact that I said it nonchalantly as if it was just an everyday occurence. - That's all fine and dandy, really, but just _how_ do we stop it from happening?

-I am not sure. There is little that is certain when dealing with daemons. Although... eliminating the most powerful of their kind would probably be a good starting point.

I guess "praying to the Almighty" or something like that would've been too easy. I could do with a little "easy" right now, honestly. Or with waking up and discovering it was all a nightmare. That'd be a relief and a half.

-Not an easy undertaking, now is it? - I comment.

-Indeed it's not. But it's either a very dangerous task or a certain death. There's no choice, really, which is why fates have foretold you will save both worlds.

-Is it absolutely certain that I will do it? That I will... you know, succeed?

-Nothing is certain. The future is ever-changing, as I believe I have told you before. But... you _are_ important. The future I have seen marks you and you alone as the one responsible for this world's (and by extention, my own world's) salvation.

Normally I'd be proud or something, but there's been so much weird shit going on around me I don't even know how I'm supposed to react.

-Okay, sure. - I reply. - Back on topic, how would we find this strongest daemon, anyway?

-Do not worry about that until you have some forces backing you up. Facing it now (whatever it is) is not going to end well, considering the greater daemons' tendency to surround themselves with swarms of lesser daemons. If it helps ease your mind, I am confident that I will be able to find it with my mind when the time comes, for daemons with the level of power we're talking about are extremely powerful entities easily seen by a careful mind gazing upon the warp. Until we are ready, however, trying to locate it is a waste of time.

-Alright. Any ideas so as to how to gather some forces to aid our valiant cause.

-I was rather hoping you, the one native to this world, would have some ideas. I, who have barely just arrived, should hardly be able to come up with a decent plan.

-Fair enough. I think I may have some ideas...

* * *

A/N: I wanted to make this a fair bit longer, but I figured I might as well post it as is, since I've had a bad case of writer's block for like a few weeks or so.


End file.
